Fiscals agree: Another massacre suspect ‘mistakenly arrested’

MANILA, Philippines - The prosecutors in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre trial agreed with the results of the investigation conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) that another suspect detained for the massacre was mistakenly arrested by authorities.

In a three-page manifestation yesterday, the panel asked Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to rectify the situation involving detained suspect Sahid Guiamadel, also known as Jun Aliman.

Earlier, police also arrested Dexson Saptula, alias Mohammad Adam, only to find out that another Saptula, alias Rene Matuti, was already arraigned and arrested for the massacre. The issue is currently up for resolution before the court.

The motion was filed after the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDG) submitted in November the results of an investigation saying there was no sufficient evidence to support that Aliman, arrested in Kidapawan City on Dec. 14, 2011, was the same Guiamadel charged for the massacre.

Then CIDG director Francisco Uyami said in the letter that real Guiamadel was in fact Arnel Abdullah, who was separately arrested for illegal possession of firearms in Sultan Kudarat on Feb. 22, 2012.

“To obviate a miscarriage of justice, we are of the view that the real accused, Sahid Guiamadel also known as Arnel Abdullah should be the one prosecuted for the case,” said the prosecution panel.

The CIDG investigation showed that the police officer who arrested Aliman was purposely misled by an informant that Aliman was the suspect charged for the massacre.

The investigator said that there were pieces of evidence – including sworn statements of various persons – supporting that Guiamadel was indeed Abdullah, who is currently detained at the Sultan Kudarat provincial jail as he is facing another charge.

Aliman – who is presently detained with other suspects in the Maguindanao massacre at the Quezon City Jail-Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa – is one of the two arrested suspects who have yet to be arraigned for the massacre as he has a pending motion before the court. The other is Talembo Masukat, who is scheduled to be arraigned next month.